Tibetan shopkeeper, Tashi Wangchuk, 31, was detained on January 27, 2016, after appearing in a New York Times video in which he advocated for the rights of Tibetans to learn and study in their mother tongue. In March, 2016, he was charged with “inciting separatism,” and on May 22nd, he was sentenced to five years in prison for the charge.

Tashi began voicing concern publicly about the lack of Tibetan-language education after the authorities in Kyegundo, (Yushu in Chinese) stopped local monasteries and a private school in the area from teaching Tibetan to laypeople, according to the Times. In a 2016 New York Times mini-documentary, Wangchuk solemnly confided, “I can feel my ability to use and understand Tibetan language slipping away.”

The documentary, called A Tibetan’s Journey for Justice, focused on Wangchuk’s journey to Beijing to appeal for the protection of Tibetan language rights within the framework of the Chinese constitution and legal system.

Following his interviews with the New York Times, Wangchuk was secretly detained on January 27th, 2016. For 56 days after his arrest, his family had no information on his whereabouts. Tashi appealed his sentence, but on August 13, China rejected the arguments made by him and his lawyer.

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Call on China to release Tashi Wangchuk immediately and unconditionally!

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Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) works in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence.

We are a chapter-based network of young people and activists around the world. Through education, grassroots organizing, and nonviolent direct action, we campaign for Tibetans’ fundamental right to political freedom.